Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary

¶ … Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary

Adolescence is a time of development, both painful and joyous. It marks a transition from dependence to independence. The nature of this transition often only seems clear in retrospect, but it's key characteristic is the assumption of power over one's own life. Beverly Cleary's Dear Mr. Henshaw portrays such a transition and all its turmoil and joy. Leigh Botts moves from confused and helpless adolescent, to confident arbiter of his own life through the transition of authorities and the acceptance of his own ability to consciously examine his own life.

The form of the book is epistolary though not quite strictly so. Before we examine the nuances of Cleary's effort, we find that the epistolary form, in children's literature is "used for extremely subtle characterization, where character development is never stated explicitly, since the character is too young to judge himself."1 So the importance of the use of the epistolary form here is that we see Botts beginning to examine his own feelings. He takes the inner and commits it to writing. We will examine this phenomenon in detail later, but suffice to say that for now, this is the beginning of Botts's maturation.

Botts first takes to writing letters for a homework assignment. He has to communicate with an author, an authority, as we will later find. Botts is required to do the assignment and he displays indignation at having to do so. The questions Henshaw sends for him to answer make Botts "really mad," and he says he doesn't "think it's fair to make me do more work when I already wrote a report…I'm not going to answer them, and you can't make me."2 At first, Botts is reluctant to reveal his feelings. He uses the absent authority of his own father to ward Henshaw off. We soon find though, that Botts transfers this authorial affection to Henshaw, and finally, to himself.

The epistolary form so far has been analyzed for its personal implications. It is someone taking the inner world of consciousness and revealing it to another. However, "not all first-person narratives are concerned with the narrator's consciousness; instead they primarily render events and happenings around them."1 This is important to note. Firstly, Botts's letters are only this, external observations, bereft of the understanding that an inner world of consciousness accompanies and informs these outside events.

In her essay, "Composing a Life': The Diary of Leigh Botts," Geraldine De Luca posits that in "children's literature, there is a strong pull toward resolution…the movement is usually toward finding some way back to a condition of understanding and regeneration."3 The very title of her essay suggests the movement of Cleary's protagonist. He is composing his life. Life isn't something that simply happens to you. You compose life and its events.

We now move back to Botts's letters. Earlier, we noted how reluctant he was to answer the questions sent to him by Mr. Henshaw. This reluctance signifies a pivotal moment in the transition of helpless youth to commanding adult. Interestingly, Cleary aligns Botts with his father at this point. When his mom finds the unanswered letters, Botts laments that "she says I can't go through life expecting everyone to do everything for me. She used to say the same thing to Dad when he left his socks on the floor."2 Botts once held his dad as his ideal, but he didn't realize that such an idealization represented his own reluctance to assume any duty over himself and his life.

We now move onto authorial transference. Nikolejeva posits that what separates a diary novel and an epistolary novel is "the latter is supposed to have an addressee…a letter-writer is less likely to reveal his innermost thoughts to an external correspondent."1 In the book, Botts writes both to Mr. Henshaw and also to a pretend Mr. Henshaw. This means his moves from having to have an outside authority, to becoming his own authority. De Luca believes Botts wishes "for circumstances to reverse themselves, for his father to come closer to some ideal" even though Botts is "powerless to effect these changes."3 Only when he finds "the power he does have to make his life happier" does the act of writing becomes this power.3

What began as an assignment, becomes a method of self-discovery. Botts first has to answer questions and then begins to ask them. He takes the inner world of his experiences and parses them out on paper, discovering that many of his ideals, many of the things he depends on, are simply not there. Though it's tough to assume duty over one's life, Botts finds that it is necessary and even a privilege. In a letter to Henshaw, Botts observes, "When you answered my questions, you said the way to get to be an author was to write."2 This brings us full-circle. Author is shorthand for authority in Dear Mr. Henshaw. By writing, one commits the inner world to the outer world and assumes responsibility for it.